Coe-Brown girls nip Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH — The slumping Portsmouth High School girls basketball team found itself fighting a battle on two fronts on Wednesday night.

On one, it was trying to improve the play that has seen it get saddled with three double-digit losses in its last four games, facing a good Coe-Brown team that had handed it a crazy loss in Northwood last month.

On the other, it was trying to do this without the services of its top inside player, Abby Salvadore.

The Clippers fought the fight, even looking for a moment in the fourth quarter that they had enough to win it, but ultimately fell short, 49-42, at Stone Gym.

“I think in these games we’ve lost, we played better in this one than we did in the others,” said Portsmouth coach Danny Parr.

Guards Tighe Loch and Libby Underwood each had 10 points each for the Clippers, who cut a 10-point deficit to one with four minutes left but couldn’t overtake Coe-Brown, whose coach called it his team’s most complete game of the year.

“This is the first game we’ve played all year where we’ve played four complete quarters,” said Coe-Brown coach Dave Hartnett. “Everything was balanced. That’s been our problem this year, to be able to put four quarters together.”

Both teams are 10-5 in Division II with three games to play, which this year is not a guarantee of a first-round prelim at home once the playoffs begin. For the Clippers, it’s a much different neighborhood than they were in two weeks ago, when they were entertaining Milford in a game for first place.

Salvadore worked the game from the scorer’s table, the sprained ankle she suffered in last week’s loss to Windham likely to keep her out of Friday’s game here against Kennett.

“The thing she does is rebound,” said Parr. “We had (freshman forward) Heather Durand trying to bang on the boards at both ends all by herself.”

“(Salvador) adds a lot,” said Hartnett. “I didn’t know she wasn’t playing until (Parr) told me before the game. But our game plan, ever since I’ve been playing them, is to try to stop their guards.”

Coe-Brown raced ahead 8-0 out of the gate. But guard Izzy Pafford hit a three to get her sluggish team moving and it was tied, 12-12, after one; the deficit was just 25-23 at halftime.

Up 27-25 early in the third after consecutive baskets by Hannah Stevens, the Clippers watched Coe-Brown mount a 12-0 run behind the 3-point shooting of Curtin. Late baskets by Loch and Underwood made the score a more manageable 37-31 heading to the fourth.

Parr’s been trying to address offensive concerns all season. With Salvadore’s inside presence out, there was more necessity for her teammates to take the open shots that were available.

“Coe-Brown was smart enough to figure out some of our kids shoot better than others,” he said.

Still, they had one more run in them. Pafford was fouled and made two free throws, and Underwood collected a loose ball and scored to make it 39-37. When Phoebe Collins hit a three from the left wing, it was 41-40.

“I was happy we came back a couple times,” said Parr. “I thought we were history.”

But the rest was all Bears, who ran the floor expertly in transition and made 11-of-12 free throws. That transition game got Ahern open underneath for a basket and then two free throws, and the Clippers had no more answers.

“They get back on defense real well, too,” said Parr. “Even when we got the defensive rebound, we couldn’t get clean breaks at the other end.”

Portsmouth will try to get some traction against Kennett (5-9), which is down this year but gave it a game back on Jan. 31, a 55-48 Clippers win.